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Politics & Government

What it Takes to Be a Top College Town

University and city officials strive to make College Park a top college town by 2020, ranking among the likes of Lawrence, KS and Ames, IA.

In 2010, the American Institute for Economic Research compiled a list of the top 10 college towns in the United States. Factors included location, quality of life and research opportunities, all things the organization says lead to the picture-perfect feel of a traditional college town.

College Park didn’t make the cut.

Not only excluded by AIER, College Park didn’t make recent lists of top college towns by two other influential rankings, the Princeton Review and U.S. News & World Report.

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Critics of College Park say the city simply does not cater to the more than 30,000 students at the University of Maryland, who make up a sizable portion of College Park’s population.

“College Park just seems sort of run-down outside the campus boundaries,” said freshman Doug Miller.  “There just isn’t a lot to do once you leave campus.”

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Others, like College Park Mayor Andrew Fellows, see College Park as the prime location to create a college town that will propel the city into the ranks of places such as Lawrence, KS, and Ames, IA, which consistently rank as top college town environments. He said he works with university administrators to create a city appealing for both residents and students.

“We’re not always going to agree,” he said.  “But in the practice of working together, we agree based on our shared interests.”

These interests include initiatives such as construction of the light rail known as the and , a multimillion-dollar development plan sponsored by the university—projects encouraged by the College Park City-University Partnership.

The partnership has about eight members on its board, including Fellows and state Sen. Jim Rosapepe (D-District 21), who is the chairman. The partnership has worked for more than 10 years to revitalize College Park, according to Anca Domni, a representative of the partnership. Fellows said the goal is to mold College Park into a successful college town by 2020.

“The 2020 vision’s purpose is to bring the desires of College Park and the desires of the university together,” Fellows said. “Most great college towns have things that appeal to students—bookshops, coffee shops, things like that.”

Ann Campbell, the mayor of Ames, IA, agrees with that definition. Her city—home of Iowa State University—is considered by many to be a top college town because of its “small-town feel with big-town amenities,” Campbell said. 

Like College Park, a sizable chunk of the population of Ames is made up of students, and it is within 40 minutes of a capital city—Des Moines.

A strong university relationship is vital for a thriving college town, she added.

“Given that half the population is students [in Ames], it’s needless to say the students play a big role in the community,” she said.  “It’s no secret that there can be tensions, but we work hard on both sides to work on issues.”

As for College Park, historical tensions between the university and the city that have prevented development seem to have subsided for the moment, Fellows said. University President Wallace Loh has publically encouraged the revitalization of College Park, and Fellows is adamant that changes will come.

“The university is increasingly willing to work with us,” Fellows said. “They’ve showed recognition of mutual interest. Sometimes the university has to act in its own interests. We’re trying to make those interests coincide.”

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